Rex Rules

This is the beginning of what could be called “Rex Ray Days” in Denver. Tonight he’s the guest of honor at the opening of his eponymous solo at Gallery T; tomorrow evening, there’s a reception at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, where he’s taking over the Promenade Space. Rex...

By Michael Paglia

March 12, 2009

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This is the beginning of what could be called “Rex Ray Days” in Denver. Tonight he’s the guest of honor at the opening of his eponymous solo at Gallery T; tomorrow evening, there’s a reception at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, where he’s taking over the Promenade Space.

Rex Ray was born in Germany and has lived in San Francisco for decades, but he spent his teenage years in Colorado and has maintained ties to our state ever since. Though he has a reputation as a designer of everything from Björk CD covers to mugs for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, he’s also a significant fine artist, known for his spectacular and distinctive mixed-media paintings.

At T, Ron Judish has assembled a group of Ray’s signature pieces that sport mid-century modern shapes in hand-painted and hand-cut papers. The MCA features a related mural surrounded by artist-designed wallpaper done in a sympathetic pattern. Curated by former director Cydney Payton, it represents the last piece of her impressive programming to come on line before Adam Lerner takes over the MCA schedule.

The festivities run from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight at Gallery T, 878-2 Santa Fe Drive; for more information, call 303-893-0960 or go to www.galleryt.org. Tomorrow’s reception at the MCA, 1485 Delgany Street, goes from 6 to 10 p.m.; for more on that, phone 303-298-7554 or go to www.mcadenver.org.
Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: March 10. Continues through May 30, 2009

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Michael Paglia is an art historian and writer whose columns have appeared in Westword since 1995; his essays on the visual arts have also been published in national periodicals including Art News, Architecture, Art Ltd., Modernism, Art & Auction and Sculpture Magazine. He taught art history at the University of Colorado Denver.

Contact: Michael Paglia